


Sweet 16

by NumptyPylon



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Drunken Flirting, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Romance, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24753340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NumptyPylon/pseuds/NumptyPylon
Summary: “Wow, I just want a big glass of ‘forget-this-whole-interaction’, please.”“Well, itislegal for you to drink, as of today,” Rayla laughed.Nah, Callum thought. That was probably an unreliable method with a lot of unwanted side-effects.---But that was 6PM Callum, and this story covers every hour until 3AM on his 16th birthday. He changes his mind on the subject of alcohol... multiple times.Illustrated, because I have no self-control.
Relationships: Callum & Soren (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 56
Kudos: 145





	1. 10 Degrees of Inebriation

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, this is an unnecessary warning, since it’s the entire premise of the story, but obviously there’ll be underage drinking in this story, depending on where you’re from. In my laissez-faire homeland, it’s A-OK :D The rating is really just for the drinking, there’s some very mildly suggestive content, but that’s it.
> 
> This is a procrastination project in itself, and then I illustrated it, in an act of procrastinating actually writing it. So there's drawings. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
>   
>    
> 

### 6PM

It was to be a modest celebration, all things considered. Next birthday, Callum would probably have to be far away from Katolis to avoid some big to-do, because 17 was the big one, but for this, he could get away with something that had a chance of actually being enjoyable.

A _good_ chance, he thought, watching Rayla, bouncing excitedly around the room. It wasn’t really like her to be exited about clothes, but he supposed it was the first time she got to wear something to a human party she got to pick for herself.

And it was one of the first times she was not wearing a _uniform,_ it occurred to him. She had been an assassin and then a Dragonguard, and now she was neither. Even other human parties they had gone to, they had both been presenting Katolis in an official capacity and that required a kind of uniform too.

Ezran had ordered her a selection of clothes after he had noticed she was always either wearing her old assassin’s outfit sans hood, or Callum’s pajamas, and she was trying them on now, laughing as she tried to, as she put it, ‘embody the vibe’ of whatever she was trying on. There seemed to be a surprising amount of battle-ready and acrobatic vibes in those dainty dresses, not that he was complaining.

He smiled widely, as she struck a pose like Amaya fending off invaders, wearing some ill-fitting, taupe-colored monstrosity. “You seem happy.”

“Yeah!” She bounded effortlessly backwards off the bed she was standing on, dress and all. “It’s your birthday! And my first human party ever!”

“We’ve been to other human parties…” But he got what she meant. They had been working at those parties. Representing Katolis, fielding off unwanted, prying and bigoted comments, wearing stiff, uncomfortable clothes they didn’t choose.

There had been moments of leisure though, carved out little pieces, just for them.

On the balcony in the Duren palace, the warmth of her skin felt through the thin, silky cloth of her dress.

Behind some barrels in the damp coolness of some noble’s wine cellar.

Watching her dance, a vision of grace, forgetting the weight and the expectations on her. Lightness in her body, brightness in her smile.

“What should I wear?” Rayla asked, plonking down opposite him, interrupting his reverie. “Not this one, obviously, I think Ez must have had plans for elicit jellytart smuggling when he ordered it,” she commented thoughtfully, poking the voluminous skirts and copious extra fabric almost everywhere. Yeah, even the poopy shade of taupe and questionable amounts of ruffles aside, it was clearly made for sturdy Katolian woman-hood rather than Rayla’s willowy frame.

“The greyish-purple one, he said without hesitation. The color had made her look luminous, even in the dim light of their room.

“Oh Callum. I really didn’t have the… endowments… for that one.” She giggled, clearly not too bothered. And she shouldn’t be. Her endowments were perfect, thank you very much!

“They- uh you looked fine to me.”

“Yeah, you’re biased on the subject and can’t be trusted.”

“Well, I’m all you-” Shit. He _was_ pretty much all she had, here _or_ in Xadia. She had Ez and Soren too, true, but she could not really ask any of _them_ if she had the endowments for the purple dress, they were completely unsuitable as judges for very different reasons. And Lujanne and Ellis were here, but they somehow weren’t suitable either. In fact, that was a horrifying thought, because Lujanne would probably tell some unsavory and not-at-all Ezran-friendly story of how she once enhanced her own endowments to the unanimous delight of party-goers, or offer Rayla some completely unnecessary illusion-

“You can unclench, Callum,” she said, grinning reassuringly. Oh, he had gone too long without talking. “I might make new friends at the party, who knows? Maybe, come tomorrow, Opeli and I will be best buddies and we can just call her whenever we have a disagreement about my endowments.” _Another_ horrifying thought.

“Wow, I just want a big glass of ‘forget-this-whole-interaction’, please.”

“Well, it _is_ legal for you to drink, as of today,” she laughed.

Nah. That was probably an unreliable method with a lot of unwanted side-effects.

### 7PM

Callum was 16 tonight. It would be another year until he was a legal adult and could get married or join the army or buy a house… but 16 was important too. He could drink alcohol now, openly and officially. Like the cup of cider someone had pressed into his hand with a wink and red-cheeked humor and pats on the back. And he could get engaged. If he wanted to.

He looked at Rayla, happily chatting with Ellis and Ezran. Lujanne had kind of invited herself, told him very firmly that with the war over she had a lot of non-party time to make up for, and if he wanted her continued tutelage at the Moon Nexus, she had better get an invitation to his birthday party.

He tried the cider he had yet to taste. Nice. Fizzy. A bit like the fermented fruit drinks the Moonshadow elves made. But with more of… something. Nice though.

He finished the cup, smiling as he watched Rayla dance with Ellis, like she had back at the Moon Nexus. But Ellis clearly knew the dance now.

“Birthday boooy!” Soren’s arm settled heavily around his shoulders. “You gotta be careful with the stuff that tastes like juice,” he said sagely, nodding at his cup that some kind person had refilled for him. “It’s easier to pace yourself if you can actually taste the alcohol.” He looked thoughtful, then retrieved a bottle from one of the tables. “Try this instead!”

Callum finished the half-empty second cup to let Soren pour a smaller amount of clear liquid into it. Possibly an ill-advised course of action, but hey! Trying new things was good, right?

Turned out, no. It was not good. The first sip was horrible. The remainder of the cup tasted like candied moonberries though, because Lujanne saw him grimace and fixed it for him. Still. Better stick with the cider that was tasty without the aid of complex illusions.

Yeah. The cider was good. 

### 8PM

“Rayla! Have you tried the cider? It’s really good.”

“No. But you have?” She looked at him, a bit suspicious. That just wouldn’t do, when it was a _party!_ He would have to fix that!

“I have! And it’s good! It’s reaaally good! You should try it!” Callum moved to sit next to her, where she was perched on the railing of the balcony, but for some reason she stopped him, guiding him to stand below her instead. It was a pretty good place too, her perfect endowments right in his line of sight. His cheeks felt really warm. They really were-

Rayla tipped his chin up to look her in the eyes, an amused grin on her face. “I will abstain, I think.”

“Why?! It’s reaaaally good!”

“You mentioned that,” she said, all smirky and pretty. “But you look like you’re well on your way to having had enough for both of us, I think. One of us needs to be able to walk come bedtime.”

“Sorry.” That was really sad. She should get to try the tasty, tasty cider too.

“It’s okay. It’s _your_ birthday. I’ll manage.”

“I know!” He stood on his toes to kiss her, long and sweet. “You got it? The taste?”

“Not really.” Her foot hooked around his thigh to pull him closer. “Might have to try that again.”

  
  


### 9PM

“Ez!” Callum poked Ezran’s hair from behind. Fluffy. Really fluffy. Soft.

“Callum? You’re being really weirdly fun. And loud.”

“I’m always fun, what are you talking about?”

“ _That._ ” Ezran looked suspiciously up at him. “What’s with the completely unwarranted confidence? It’s _weird._ ”

“Personal growth?” He was allowed personal growth, wasn’t he?

“Since this morning?” Why was Ezran so suspicious of his party mood? Oh right. The alcohol. He had had… some.

Yeah it was probably the alcohol. He had a feeling that was the likely answer. But he was supposed to be a good role model for Ez, and not get drunk on the very first day of his life it was legal for him to do so. “Sorry. It’s the cider, I’m pretty sure. It tastes _really_ good though! Like juice! But more… depth? Tang?” Oops. You weren’t supposed to go on an alcohol-related sales pitch to your 11-year-old brother either- “I mean. It’s bad. Horrible. And bad. And horrible. Yuck.”

Ez just giggled. “Yeah, definitely more fun.”

“Hey Ez, isn’t it your bedtime?”

“No. It’s Bait’s bedtime.” Well, he sounded really sure, sooo…

### 10PM

“You _know_ you like the wings, don’t deny it!” Callum spread his arms dramatically. “Manis! Pl-” Rayla’s covered his mouth.

  
  


“No. You’re done. No flying under the influence! That’s an order! I know your dumb idea face when I see it, and boy is it dumb, what you’re thinking right now. You can ask anyone.” Rayla looked around to find an ally, and seemingly settled on one. “Corvus! Corvus is an unbiased and sensible third party.”

“I do have to agree with Lady Rayla, Prince Callum.” Corvus said, then retreatedly rather hastily.

“Two against one.” She crossed her arms, daring him to disagree. “And we can ask anyone at this party except Ellis if they think it’s a good idea for you to go flying- _how_ many cups of cider deep?”

“Uhhh…”

“Yeah, you proved my point. And fractions count, Mister 14 and 5/6ths, and I saw you finishing off Soren’s beer twice. So it’s however many cups you can’t remember, plus 2/3rds. Legal limit for flying is 0. It’s 1 for driving carriages. So it’s 0 for flying. And you _owe_ me for making me do math.”

“I’m really sorry. I’m a terrible boyfriend.” He had made her do math and not have any cider. It was no fun having fun when _she_ wasn’t having fun.

“Nah, you’re okay. And you’re better off without those wings right now, anyway. You wouldn’t have arms if you had wings.” She put hers around him, to demonstrate. Right, there were advantages to having arms. And hands.

### 11PM

Callum knew just the spot. A niche in the walls, half-covered by a tapestry. The stone walls were nice and cool against his back. He felt really warm. Especially his face. Opeli was not really the person he wanted to find him here. And she didn’t look too pleased to have found _him,_ either.

“Shhhh! I’m waiting for Rayla!” He whispered to her.

“In a dark hallway. Behind a tapestry.” Opeli’s face was all… scrunched, like when he showed up to meetings with messy hair. “Prince Callum, I do not think it is a good idea to try to play those kinds of pranks on your… young lady. She was an assassin. Do not try to sneak up on assassins. It is also inappropriate for a prince to play those pranks at all.”

“Good advice! But I’m not sneaking up on her! I’m not _that_ dumb! I’m just waiting for her. It’s private here. Cozy.”

“I can assure you that it is not private _enough_ , for what you are thinking about. And that is far _more_ inappropriate than playing pranks. Would you consider retiring to your room perhaps? That seems like a very private place.” Opeli stood very straight. All judgy.

He pouted. “But you said Rayla wasn’t allowed in my room at night.” He pointed out the window. Darkness. “And it’s night. So my room’s no good by your own rules.” Not that they _followed_ those rules, Rayla was sneaky and could pick locks. Good luck keeping her from sleeping where she wanted to. But it was the principle of the thing.

“Rejoin your party perhaps, then. Although I recommend you refrain from imbibing further. You have your reputation to consider.” So she was saying he couldn’t kiss Rayla behind the tapestry _or_ kiss Rayla in his room _or_ have more cider? That ruled out pretty much _all_ the things he wanted to do right now!

“You’re like a pigeon!” He said, accusingly. Nyx had interrupted the fun too, just all judgy from up on high.

“Prince Callum, that is rude.”

“Not like that! Not a real pigeon. A giant chaperone pigeon. Like in the desert. On the giant camel. There was a giant chaperone pigeon just like you Opeli.” She wasn’t getting it. She looked even madder now.

“Not helping your case young man.”

“Sorry. I’m eating my foot right now, aren’t I? Rayla says I like to do that too much.”

“An astute judge of character, your young lady.”

“ _Thank_ you! That’s so nice of you to say!”

“Excuse me?”

“She picked _me!_ And you think she’s an astute judge of character. So that was a _compliment_. A really weird one. Hard to understand. All… roundabout. You should really try to make your compliments easier to understand Opeli! Like this: Opeli, you have a really nice voice. I’ve always really liked it. See?”

“Prince Callum, er… never mind. I am retiring for the night. Enjoy the rest of your birthday.”

### 0AM

“Soren!” Callum hung onto Soren’s arm. He was nice and sturdy. That was good, because the world was all weird and spinny for some reason.

“Hey buddy. How many cups of cider have you had?” Soren asked. He sounded a bit worried, which was weird because this was a _party._

“Pfff, _that’s_ not important!” Soren really was silly sometimes. Who wanted to do complicated math right now? And he didn’t have enough fingers anyway, even with the pinkos. And there were waaaay more important things. Soren should know. It was… _pertinent_ information _._ “You know… I jus’… really love my girlfriend. She’s like this… delicious jellytart. The most delicious and sweet thing of jam you could imagine, with the crunchiest crust. You know I like the crusts crunchy?”

“Uh, Rayla is a jellytart? I’m not sure I’m following you here.”

“IT’S A METAPHOR!” Wow, his voice was loud.

“Shut it, loud mage! It’s midnight, no one still awake cares about metaphors!” The delicious jellytart in question shouted at him from the other side of the room.

“Sweet. Yeah. I see that.” Soren said. He sounded weird though, like he was imitating his jellytart when she was all crust. “Uh, that was sarcasm by the way. Did it work? I’ve been practicing!”

“Yeah! That was really, really amazing Soren! Anyway, it’s a metaphor.” He whispered. “Like, the crust is this confidence and… and bravado thing she does. All backflippy and smirky and pretty. But under the confidence crust, there’s this sweet, soft, mushy jelly of sweetness. The way she smiles at me in the morning, when she’s just woken up and maybe the crust hasn’t finished baking yet, so it’s easier to see. But I can see it all the time. Jus’ have to look.”

“Wow, that’s actually really nice.” Soren said, smiling all doofy and longing. He should really help Soren find his own jellytart-person. Or maybe a jellytart would not be right for Soren? Maybe he needed someone where the mushiness was easier to see, because Soren sometimes didn’t manage see beneath the surface, though he was trying to. But there should be something strong at the core, because Soren needed someone to bear his weight when he was sad, and he was sooo heavy. One of those pretty cheesecakes from Duren, with the softly whipped cream on top but crunchy caramel and nuts at the bottom.

Yeah. When the world stopped spinning, he would have to find Soren a cheesecake-person.

### 1AM

“Ez! Did you hear my amazing brain-thought! Rayla is a jellytart! Makes total sense, right?!”

Ezran giggled. What was so funny? Well a lot of things were funny, true, but- “Yeah, how about I find your jellytart, and we get the two of you to bed?” Soren asked. He had been following him around for some reason, looking at him all worried and also, his cider kept disappearing, which was also weird.

“Wait. You don’t want to… eat Rayla, right?” Ez asked. He was always so funny. Eat Rayla. That was… not talk for Ezran’s innocent baby-ears. Later. When he was bigger. When he didn’t look at him like this, all big blue eyes.

“Shhhh!” He pressed his finger to Ezran’s lips. “That’s… sandwich-talk, that is! When you’re bigger, I’ll tell you. Wait. That would be weird, right?”

“Yes.” Soren said, sounding very sure about it.

“Soren. You can tell him. When he’s older. About sandwiches.” He snickered. “And eating them.” Oh. There was something more important than sandwiches. He couldn’t be shirking his big brother duties! “Wait. It’s one in the morning? Right?” Corvus had said something like that, when he had retired just a little earlier.

“Yeah? You want to go to bed?” Soren asked. “I think that’s a _great_ idea. Come on! Let’s go!” Soren was so _nice!_ But no. No bed. Not for him. For Ez though. Definitely.

“Ez! It’s your bedtime!” Callum said, pointing at him. Big brother duties. Had to be done.

“It was my bedtime four hours ago. That means it’s no longer my bedtime.” Ezran said triumphantly.

That was true. What was he supposed to say to that? That was just impeccable arguing. There was just no possible retort to that-

“Ez. It’s _past_ your bedtime.” Rayla said firmly, walking up to them. Delicious _and_ smart she was.

### 2AM

“You know? Wha’ do you think of… blue? Pigeon I mean? For my wedding invitations? I have this idea. I need to draw it! Right now!” Callum hung onto Soren’s arm a bit, as they walked up the stairs, because he was sure the steps were just bumping into his feet on purpose today.

“Uh, you realize this is your 16th birthday right?” Soren said, clearly not getting the urgency of the situation. “You’re not sending out your wedding invitations anytime soon, you don’t really have to draw them _now_. You’re 16. _Just_ 16.”

“I’m in looove, is what I am!”

“I know.”

“So you’ll help me? I need… paper. Paint.” He giggled. “And sparkles. Lots. And I need to write all nice and squiggly-like. And I need… advice.” He sank down on the staircase steps. This was heavy. Important. “I really need your advice Soren. It’s _very_ important.”

“Hey, I’m here for you buddy.” Soren sat down next to him, put his hand on his shoulder.

“Fuchsia or Aquamarine? For the accents I mean. For the calligraphy.”

“Callum, I don’t know what any of those words mean. I don’t really think I’m the right person for this.”

“Oh! I know! Poetry! You’re the right person for that! Listen to this, okay? And then tell me if Rayla would like it:

Rayla.

Jellytart.

Of my heart.”

“Buddy, maybe just have another go at the poetry, when it’s bright outside. You’ll get better! It took me a few tries to get it right.”

“So you’re saying… it’s not very good. No. It’s not good. I was going for a kind of… minimal thing? But it doesn’t suit her. I’ll try again. With fancy words. Okay. Here goes:

Majestic sword butterfly of my heart,

You ascend like-”

Wait. That was complete gibberish. And what were they even doing here? “Soren?” He looked around. “Why are we on the stairs?”

“Because we were going to your room and you sat down?”

“Why did I sit down on the stairs, that’s so weird.”

There were footsteps coming up to meet them, and Rayla, for some reason carrying a bucket, looked at them pretty unimpressed. Oh Rayla! Beautiful jellytart of his heart! “Why are you two camped out on the stairs?” she asked Soren. “I thought you were bringing him to his room?”

“He sat down?” Soren said. It was true. He did. He was pretty sure.

“Well, don’t let _him_ make the decisions!” Hey!

“I can make decision-”

But Rayla cut him off. “Not right now, no you can’t. It’s bedtime. It is, in fact, at least five cups of cider, several very questionable metaphors and some very off-key singing _past_ your bedtime.” Pffff, minor details.

“I can’t help it that my singing isn’t as pretty as yours!”

“You’re the only one who would ever say anything complimentary about my singing.”

“Other people don’t listen right.”

“You’re both sickening.” Soren said, getting up from the steps. “I’m going to bed. You can take him from here, right Rayla?”

“Sure.”

His jellytart was made of strong stuff, which was good, because the world was _really_ spinny when he got to his feet.

“Come on,” she said, as she swept him into her arms. “Bedtime.” This was nice. Well, not so much for her, probably, he could hear her struggling a bit, it was close to new moon and he had gotten bigger and she hadn’t, since the last time she carried him. But for him. Nice soft hair and neck to snuggle his face into. No dumb steps to bump his feet into.

  
  


### 3AM

Callum didn’t feel so good anymore. Which was weird. Because he was sure he felt _really_ good just a little while ago. Weird.

Rayla probably knew what to do, she usually did. And she was right next to him, showing Opeli’s dumb rules what for. He poked her bare shoulder. “Pssss. Rayla. Wake up. I need help.”

She looked at him all sleepy and pretty, no crust yet. “What? You need to barf? That’s what the bucket is for. It’s right next to you.”

“No.” He was confused. Why would he need to barf? He just felt weird. Not barfy-weird. He didn’t think.

“Okay. Why did you wake me then?”

“I don’t feel so good.”

“Yeah. That’s what the bucket is for, like I said.”

“Noooo… I don’t want a dumb old bucket. I want you. You make everything better. All the time.”

There was the mushy sweetness. Soft little smile.

And there was the barfy-weirdness. Oops.

The bucket was there too, though. That was good. It was a good bucket. Not dumb at all.

And Rayla’s hand was also there, resting on his back.

“I don’t feel so good,” he said. He’d already said it, he was pretty sure. But it really bore repeating.

“I know.” Her lips on the back of his neck. She did make everything better. “Try to sleep. I promise, you’ll feel worse in the morning.” Pretty smirky crust again. But the jelly was showing.

“You won’t let me puke on you, right?” He was a bit concerned. No one got to puke on his girlfriend. But she did have issues with self-sacrifice, throwing herself in the way of incoming projectiles and stuff.

“No. Definitely not. I’ll let you puke on yourself though.” She would not. That was a bluff. Not even very good. “And I won’t kiss you goodnight until you clean your teeth and drink two of the big glasses of water. Them’s the rules.”

“You know. I really, really love you. You should know that. It’s really important. You know? That you know?”

“I do know that.” All jelly now. “I love you too, barfy birthday boy.”


	2. In the Bright Light of Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day after, and Callum has some regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little fluffy rayllum epilogue :)
> 
> Sorry for the delay, wrote so much fluff throughout July, I kinda neglected this one.

“Rayla?” Callum groaned, and instantly regretted opening his mouth. Ugh. His head hurt. His mouth tasted like barf-covered carpet.

“Good _morning!”_ Rayla announced, far too loud and chirpy. Why was she so mean to him when he was dying? That really wasn’t fair.

He buried his face further into the pillow. “Please just let me die in peace.”

“You know, I’ve always admired your stoicism in the face of minor hardships. It’s truly an inspiration. No drama with this one.”

“s’too early for sarcasm.”

“It’s noon.”

Callum twisted around and sat up abruptly. “WHAT?!” Oh, and now he made his _own_ head hurt. “I was supposed to do… something.”

“You were supposed to attend a meeting, yes. Three hours ago.” Rayla said, sitting down next to him on the bed.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I did. You made it to the hallway, then puked in a fern.”

Oh no, he did, he remembered now too. And Ez really liked those potted plants, he had tried so hard to liven up the stuffy hallways after seeing the elven palaces. Well, he had not seen them for real, but Lujanne had shown him very lifelike illusions.

“Don’t tell Ez.” Callum said. Just add more shame to the pile, why not?

“Sure. Ez might use his famous powers of deduction though, and get there on his own.” Rayla teased. “You were really the only one that got to the puking-in-hallways stage of inebriation last night. Or the loud-declarations-of-your-love-of-pastry-in-horrendously-off-key-song stage.” Oh great. Just wonderful. Never drinking again.

“Sorry. I love you more than pastry, I swear.”

“I’m just not sure I believe that. The way you talked about jellytarts last night, well, I got a little jealous, not gonna lie. That was some deepfelt passion.” She smirked. Pretty crust. Oh no.

Rayla had _been_ the jellytart. That made a lot more sense. Well, kind of. He was not telling her that, though. She clearly had _plenty_ of fuel to tease him already.

“I didn’t puke on _you,_ did I?” He asked. He would need to have words with drunk Callum, if he had puked on his girlfriend.

“No. You were adamant that I should not let you do that.” Her smirk became quite a fond smile. “It was actually pretty cute, almost made me smooch you right there, puke-breath and all.” Good. Drunk Callum at least had some semblance of decorum. And Rayla, at least, still liked him, after whatever he had done the previous night. It was weird, not knowing exactly what he had done. Uncomfortable. He was so used to effortlessly remembering every detail.

“Did I do anything… bad? Worse than ruining Ez’s fern, I mean.”

Rayla sidled up close to him, to ease his head into her lap. That was good. Lying down was good. And Rayla’s fingers though his hair was _very_ good. “No,” she said, real reassurance without a hint of tease now. “You were loud and sloppy and messy and oversharing, and your metaphors were a lot weirder than usual, but that’s about it. You were still _you,_ just dumber and less inhibited. You would never do anything _really_ bad.”

She leant forward to kiss him, his forehead, his nose. Steering clear of his mouth, he noted.

Yeah, he really needed to clean his teeth.

He had just gotten back from the bathroom doing just that, when Soren burst though the door, uninvited, but at least he came carrying gifts of breakfast foods. A lot of them. Roughly the amount and type of a typical Soren breakfast; eggs and sausages and buttered rolls. Not his usual morning fare, but… somehow exactly what he wanted.

“Morning! Enjoying being 16, so far?”

“You _know_ I’m not,” Callum grumbled.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I did try to get you to go to bed, multiple times.”

“Oh, I’m quite aware I got myself in this situation.” He stuffed a roll into his mouth. Buttered heaven. Buttered the Soren way too. Which was a lot of butter. Soren could basically eat butter right out of the bowl. Had, in fact. “You have any advice?” He asked Soren, around a mouthful of egg. Opeli would not have approved, but he was pretty sure she had bigger issues with him right now than talking with his mouth full.

“Sleep it off, if you have the luxury?” Soren suggested. “Eat and drink. It’s a pretty good time, being hungover, you just laze about eating.” He didn’t think he had had a day just lazing about for at least a year. Since they left the castle with Zym’s egg, probably. He had been learning magic, travelling between Xadia and Katolis, establishing trade routes and communication lines… trying to keep the world in general from deteriorating.

Maybe this was not so bad. For a change. Even if it did mean feeling like a wrung out dishrag. The nausea was abating a bit too, as he ate. That was good. Probably no more puke then.

“I think I’ll do what Soren suggested.” Callum said to Rayla, as Soren retreated to do his _actual_ job. “Laze about. Haven’t done that in a while.”

“Me neither,” she said thoughtfully. “I think it might have been… back when we just entered Xadia the first time. After Sol Regem.” Wow. That was not a _lazy_ day, that had been her too injured and exhausted to physically get up. Not even remotely the same thing. It really didn’t count if a dragon had to dump a pile of rocks on you first.

“You’re overdue too then. Besides, the last break we had, which I definitely maintain does not count because it was forced and not voluntary for you, it led to some good things. That’s when I realized I was in love with you.”

“What, really?!” Rayla looked rather disbelieving, at that. “As I recall I was a complete pain.”

“You’re allowed to be a bit of a pain, when you’re _in_ pain.” He stroked his hand across her face, her forehead, the slight lingering scar there, from that ordeal. “And you weren’t _so_ bad. After you fell asleep.” He laughed as she swatted at his arm. “But really. That was when. You could have died, you were barely keeping yourself conscious and you were _still_ thinking of me and Zym. You drove me completely nuts. Still do.”

“I don’t even know when I realized. It was way earlier than you, but you’ve always been pretty dense.” She snickered. “When you asked me those questions back on the boat, three days after we met? Maybe then? I definitely remember thinking it was very unfair for humans to be so cute. And then I figured out it was just you. And then on the other boat, with the pirate? When you had that dumb idea face and you were going off to electrocute yourself? Yeah, I knew then, that I liked you like that. A lot. And wanted to smush your dumb idea face.”

“Wait! Is this it?” Callum tried to school his face into the right expression by thinking of a dumb idea. Method acting, his and Ezran’s teacher in rhetoric and enunciation, had called it. Why couldn’t you think of any dumb ideas when you _wanted_ to think of dumb ideas? “Is this the dumb idea face you wanted?”

She pulled him closer by the scruff of his shirt. “Close enough. It’s your face.” Her breath ghosted against his lips, then closed the distance. It was sweet heaven, until it hit him that he might still taste like puke. “Oh, and there it is!” Rayla said, grinning triumphantly. “Your dumb idea face! You were thinking of killing the mood by asking some idiotic and unnecessary question like if you taste like puke. You don’t. You taste like butter. Not arousing, unless you’re Soren, probably,” she laughed. “But not off-putting either. Neutral. But fortunately, you have your dumb idea face tipping the scales firmly towards arousing.”

“…I think I might be too hungover to fully appreciate the wit, Rayla. And it’s usually _very_ attractive. For today, just assume I’m Soren. Right down to the dietary preferences. Wait. No. Don’t do that, then you wouldn’t want to kiss me. Right?”

“No. I’d rather pretend you’re you, if kissing is allowed on a lazy day.”

“I’ll allow it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the fluff-vaganza. 
> 
> If you want the rest of the story of when Callum realized he was in love, [Downtime in Wartime chapter 17](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22774909/chapters/55612075) has you covered. It’s a standalone chapter, like all the chapters of that story.
> 
> [Instant chapter 8](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25011817/chapters/61296859), also a one-shot, has some Rayla pov of Callum's birthday, where she finds him behind the tapestry.

**Author's Note:**

> Lots of thanks to zuppi for inspiring this, go read her Rayla version of this [One For The Road](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23478220). This would have been but a noodle incident in Down to Earth if not for that story inspiring me to write the rest of Callum’s 16th birthday.
> 
> If you want to see what the rest of the TDP characters get up to on their birthdays, the [prologue to Down to Earth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689948/chapters/56876776) has you covered (it’s a stand-alone chapter of S3-S4 timeskip birthday drabbles). Less drinking though, mostly.
> 
> There’ll be a sappy hangover epilogue at some point, at the very latest on Callum’s birthday Juli 15th 😊


End file.
